Changes ahead for Stockton council

Thursday

Nov 8, 2012 at 12:01 AM

Three of four incumbents lost their seats on the Stockton City Council in Tuesday's election. Vice Mayor Kathy Miller, who defeated challenger Randy Hatch, was the only incumbent to survive. A fourth seat will open in January.

Scott Smith

Three of four incumbents lost their seats on the Stockton City Council in Tuesday's election. Vice Mayor Kathy Miller, who defeated challenger Randy Hatch, was the only incumbent to survive. A fourth seat will open in January.

The new council over the next four years will see the city out of bankruptcy and try to calm the city's record high street violence.

Who's in and who's out in this council makeover?

» Anthony Silva (58-42 percent) over Ann Johnston for mayor.

Apparently frustrated by the city's crime and bankruptcy, voters chose underdog Silva, the 38-year-old president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Stockton, who made hiring police a priority. He may ask voters in one year to tax themselves to make it happen. Johnston, 70, a party supply store owner, was in the process of restoring fiscal stability and calm violence when voted out of office.

» Moses Zapien (51-49 percent) over Diana Lowery in District 4.

In a close race, the 31-year-old attorney Zapien beat Lowery, a 62-year-old public awareness consultant, with his plan to beef up Stockton's fight on crime with the City Attorney's Office prosecuting minor crimes.

» Michael Tubbs (60-40 percent) over Dale Fritchen in District 6.

Tubbs infuses the City Council with youth, becoming the youngest Stockton council member at age 22. He unseated Fritchen, 53, the sole council member adamantly opposed to Stockton's bankruptcy.

» Susan Eggman, moving to state government.

Eggman wasn't up for election, but she won a race for the state's 13th Assembly District in the middle of her term on the council. To replace her, residents of District 5 can apply at City Hall to be publicly interviewed and elected by the City Council in a special meeting tentatively scheduled for Jan. 8.